ST teams with Swiss startup on audio ICs

LONDON – STMicroelectronics NV has said it is working with Soundchip SA, a Swiss electro-acoustic consultancy and originator of the High Definition Personal Audio (HD-PA) standard.

The formation of Soundchip SA (Lausanne, Switerland) was announced in May 2011. The companies three leading cofounders are CEO Mark Donaldson, Ben Skelton who serves as COO and Paul Darlington who is chief technology officer. There has been no disclosure about Soundchip's funding.

ST (Geneva, Switzerland said it will work with Soundchip to create HD-PA Platforms and HD-PA Ready components that will include MEMS microphones for such developments as monitoring at-ear sound quality and noise reduction. At the same time it will license patented audio technology from Soundchip, become an active champion of the HD-PA Standard, while Soundchip will promote ST's HD-PA Ready silicon.

ST said it expects its first HD-PA Ready silicon devices to be available in sampling quantities at the beginning of Q4 2011.

"Developing HD-PA-compliant devices demands the close association of silicon and acoustics. Our cooperative efforts with Soundchip underpin our commitment to providing customers with market-leading audio technologies," said Benedetto Vigna, general manager of the MEMS, sensor and high-performance analog division at ST, in a statement.

"Partnering with ST to bring HD-PA to market makes absolute sense as we share a common vision for audio technology at the ear and ST has the ability to transform innovative ideas into world-class silicon available to customers on a global scale," said Mark Donaldson, CEO of Soundchip, in the same statement.